Wynton Marsalis Addresses Backlash About His Comments on Rap: ‘I Stand by What I Say’

Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis caught a lot of flak following his harsh critique of rap music during his interview on a Washington Post podcast. During his interview, Marsalis said that rap is “more damaging than a statue of Robert E. Lee.”

On Wednesday (May 23), the veteran jazzman went on Facebook to clarify his remarks. In his message, he makes it clear that he stands by his comments. However, his critique was aimed at some - not all - of the things in rap music.

Marsalis maintains that people are “entitled to their disagreements” and he will listen to most of them. But he insists that he was not critiquing a specific rapper or rappers, he was making a general observation at some - NOT All - rap music.

In regards to his remarks about his rap being more damaging than a Robert E. Lee statue, he believes that the monument is "not widely or openly celebrated in the country and does not hold a position of prestige or power in the cultural marketplace.” However, he stands by his belief that the pathology in some of the rap lyrics is damaging to black America.

He concluded his letter with this:

At 56, I’m pretty sure I will not be alive when our country and the world (of all races and persuasions) no longer accepts being entertained by the pathology of Black Americans and others who choose to publicly humiliate themselves for the appetites of those who don’t share the same ongoing history and challenges. Over the years, I have come to accept this, but that doesn’t mean I have to like and endorse it. So I don’t.